


Crisis For Justice

by MindKnox



Category: DCU, Doom Patrol (TV), Harley Quinn (Cartoon 2019), Other Fandom Tags to Be Added, Stargirl (TV 2020), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014), The Sandman (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Conspiracy, Crossover, Gen, Good versus Evil, Meta, Mild Language (comes in later chapters), Mystery, On Hiatus, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Post-Doom Patrol (TV) Season 2, Post-Harley Quinn (Cartoon 2019) Season 2, Post-Stargirl (TV 2020) Season 1, Superpowers, Team Up, The Legion of Doom (DCU)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27658748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MindKnox/pseuds/MindKnox
Summary: Nora West-Allen is given a second chance to exist, but not on her own Earth; rather, it's an amalgamation of many others. It falls upon her and her new allies to uncover the mystery behind this new universe and thwart the villains threatening it.
Relationships: Beth Chapel & Pat Dugan & Yolanda Montez & Rick Tyler & Courtney Whitmore, Nora West-Allen & Other(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Rita Farr & Crazy Jane & Cliff Steele & Victor Stone & Larry Trainor
Kudos: 11





	1. Antique Lands

“Running” can be defined in two ways: The pessimist sees running as a cowardly means of escape, a tool used by those who cannot stay and fight. The optimist sees running as a way forward, pushing past the frontier of the now to form the future itself.

* * *

Nora West-Allen, also known by her codename “XS”, would call herself an optimist, herself an agent of positive change when it comes to her knowledge of the future. After all, she came from it. Her past was formed, like many others, by her parents: the intrepid reporter Iris West, and the fastest man alive Barry Allen.

Of course, circumstances changed. She changed the past, hoping to save Barry from an early death, and she succeeded. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t see this success, as the cost of heroism would pay off with her life. The past changed, she would never come to be. She would be remembered, but she would also never be born.

Nora West-Allen was no more.

… At least, that’s how the story goes on Earth-1.

* * *

The Ace O’ Clubs, a lonely bar down by the docks along Hob’s Bay sits in tranquility under the night lights of Metropolis’ shimmering skyscrapers. Inside, the patrons drink the day away and meet with friends and foes alike. Bibbo Bibbowski, the owner of this fine establishment, ensures that peace prospers between his customers just for the time they spend here. In the Ace O’ Clubs, everyone’s on equal footing so long as you’re eating his food, drinking his beer, and paying your tab.

Of course, not everyone comes to drink. Some come to rest and reflect, and Bibbo doesn’t mind. Still, he’ll make sure to check up on the guest and ask, “Hey, you alright?”

The woman he’s asking, sitting alone at a booth, is young with a head full of vibrant brown hair. She nods her head and softly tells him, “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”

“You want anything to drink? Water, soda?”

The woman takes a second to think it over before answering, “I’ll take a glass of water please.”

Bibbo walks over to the bar and pours her a tall glass of cold water. He returns and tells her, “It’s on the house. Everything else on the menu isn’t.”

The woman lets out a chuckle and smiles. “Thank you.” As she drinks the water, she watches the television nearby as it airs the WGBS Nightly News. Snapper Carr reports:

_Day Five of the negotiations between Rann and Thanagar have proven to be uneventful as the stalemate stands. The Justice League, led by Superman, have continued to maintain the safety of the two worlds’ leaders, easing the tensions after the attempted assassination of the Rannian Science Command by known criminal Kanjar Ro two days prior._

The woman hums to herself, a tad bit upset that the team isn’t readily available on Earth. At least they’re out there, helping people. “When do they usually come back?”

“I’d tell ya ‘by the end of the day’, but this whole thing seems different; bigger, like the way we fight down here.”, he answers while washing some dishes behind the bar. “You need something of them?”

The woman sips her water and answers, “Mhm. Do you know anyone else who can help me?”

Bibbo shrugs his shoulders, “Have you ever heard of the Justice Society?”

Nora nods her head but answers disappointedly, “They’re from the 1940s. I don’t think they can help me.”

A confused look crosses Bibbo’s face as he answers, “No? There’s a new team, over in Nebraska. Blue Valley’s what you’re looking for. Maybe they can help you.”

Nora smiles as she considers their help. “It’s worth a shot. Thanks a bunch, Mr. Bibbowski!” She gulps down the last of her water and rises from her seat in a hurry.

Bibbo laughs, happy to see the woman’s youthful exuberance. “No problem, kid. Though, uh, it’s gonna take you some time to get there. You can go to Station Square, take a bus. It should take you a day to get there.”

Nora looks back at him and answers, almost smugly, “I wouldn’t worry about that.” In the blink of an eye, she speeds over to the bar and drops some change in a jar before running through the front door in a gold and purple blur.

Bibbo chuckles to himself as he continues wiping the dirty dishes of his customers, amazed at the powers he has witnessed in the hands of such a polite woman.

* * *

Her name is Nora West-Allen. And she _may_ be the Fastest Woman Alive… She’s yet to know for sure, at least on this Earth.

* * *

She blazes across states on the westward journey within a matter of minutes - New York to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania to Ohio, to Indiana to Illinois, to Iowa to Nebraska at last. It’s a pity that she can’t stop to really take in her surroundings but she knows they’re beautiful as always; veridian trees, golden mountains, cerulean lakes and, of course, fascinating people.

Fortunately, if Bibbo’s word is to be taken (and it is), then she’ll be getting to know fascinating people at her destination.

Blue Valley, Nebraska: Home to the new and improved Justice Society of America. Despite the big-name-hero-hometown status, it’s quiet as always. After the defeat of their nemeses, the Injustice Society of America, it has stayed that way and without an end in sight.

Watching over from the skies is the superteam’s leader, Courtney Whitmore A.K.A. Stargirl, on her Cosmic Staff. She taps her earpiece and calls her teammates over it: “Come in, team. Over.”

“This is Wildcat, what’s up?”

Dr. Mid-Nite chimes in, “You forgot to say ‘over’. Over.”

Hourman adds with a soft chuckle, “Rookie mistake. Over.”

Wildcat scoffs, “Says you, newbie.”

After some laughter shared among the kids, an older voice awkwardly reports, “S.T.R.I.P.E. here. Over.”

A smile crosses Courtney’s face. Her friends are amazing. “What’s everyone’s situation? Over.”

Dr. Mid-Nite: “No cybercrimes are coming in. Over.”

Hourman: “And no normal crimes. Over.”

S.T.R.I.P.E.: “No suspicious entries. Over.”

Wildcat: “And still no sight of the remaining ISA members.”

Courtney jokingly asks, “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you. Can you repeat that?”

“I said there’s still not a peep out of the ISA…” Wildcat quickly understands her mistake and reluctantly adds, “Over. Also, I seriously don’t think you need to put ‘over’ after everything… Over.”

Courtney smiles, “Copy. I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary from up here. Ov-” The purple-gold lightning streak zips into town through the Business District. “Uh, wait a sec, I’m seeing some strange lights.”

“She didn’t say ‘over’!”, Wildcat exclaims.

The streak of lightning runs up the side of the American Dream building and stops there, allowing the source to reveal herself as a woman with a purple-and-white leather jacket. Courtney spots her and tells her teammates, “I’ll talk to you all in a bit. Over.” She sails across the sky and lands a few feet in front of the mysterious stranger.

“Hiya, I’m Nora. Big fan.” She extends her hand for a handshake, which Courtney cautiously accepts.

“Hello. What brings you into town?”

Nora clears her throat, anxious of how the heroine will respond. “This probably sounds weird, but hear me out: I’m not from… around here. I need to warn you of a criminal conspiracy. I’m being hunted down by supervillains.”

Courtney’s eyes widen. “Which ones?”

Nora counts them down on her hand: “Slade Wilson, you might’ve heard about him, goes by Deathstroke. A guy with a flaming skull. Bane, from Gotham City. There was a guy who was a tree.”

Courtney plainly nods her head, accepting what she’s hearing. If you told her a few months prior that there was a supervillain conspiracy in this little town alone, she likely wouldn’t believe you. “This sounds serious. Were you being followed?”

“It would be pretty hard for any of them to follow me here, but I think there’s more to it.” Nora looks away, wondering how she can word this without sounding delusional. “This will sound crazy… I’m not from this universe.”

Courtney draws a bit of a blank, not expecting to hear that today. “That does sound crazy. Continue.”

“I’m from another universe, where you and the Justice Society were from the 1940s. My dad was a superhero: the Flash, Fastest Man Alive. To save him, I had to change the timeline. In doing so, I died.” Nora shakes her head, hoping to ground herself back in reality. She looks at Courtney and notices the puzzled look on her face, barely hidden by her mask. “You look confused.”

“Can you blame me?” She laughs with Nora, hoping to ease the tension.

Nora stops to sigh, worried that she just blew her chance at reaching out for help. “I get this sounds stupid, I get it. But can you help me? Please?”

After a few seconds of thinking it over, Courtney grins. “Get on the Staff.”

* * *

The other members of the Justice Society arrive together at their base of operations: Pat Dugan’s shop, the Pit Stop. “You called us here?”, asks S.T.R.I.P.E. from within his giant suit of armor.

Courtney, with her mask off, waves at her team and tells them happily, “Hi, team! This is my new friend: Nora West-Allen. She needs our help.”

Nora steps out from the shadows, a smile on her face, and introduces herself, “You can just call me Nora, of course.”

S.T.R.I.P.E. looks down at her, slightly confused. “Pleased to meet you.” He looks over at Courtney and asks, “Stargirl?”

She shrugs her shoulders in friendly dismissal and tells the team, “You can call me Courtney, she already knows.”

Wildcat steps forward and asks with a hint of worry in her voice, “How?”

Nora answers, “Because in my timeline, Stargirl was a member of the JSA in the 1940s.”

Intrigued, Dr. Mid-Nite asks, “ _Your_ timeline?”

Her goggles, known as Chuck, state, “There was a Justice Society of the 1940s, and she’s right that there wasn’t a Stargirl on the team at that point in time. There’s also no trace of a Nora West-Allen in the records either. I believe she’s telling the truth.”

“Did your goggles just talk?”

Dr. Mid-Nite points at her goggles and gleefully explains, “Oh, this is Chuck. He was Dr. Mid-Nite, but he died so I’m the new Dr. Mid-Nite. You can call me Beth.”

Nora then asks Hourman, “So you must be Rex Tyler?”

“Rex was my dad, but he’s not around anymore either. I’m Rick.”

Nora nods her head, internally questioning whether the culprit was the same as in the original timeline. Regardless, she happily waves at the two, glad to meet them. She looks over at Wildcat and S.T.R.I.P.E. and tells them, “I don’t think I’ve heard of you two.”

The S.T.R.I.P.E. Armor opens up, revealing the man behind the mask: “The name’s Pat Dugan.”

Nora looks over at Wildcat and asks her, “And you are?”

Wildcat smirks, confident in her teammates’ trust in the stranger, and answers, “Yolanda Montez.”

Nora claps her hands together and declares proudly, “It’s an honor to meet all of you!”

Pat bluntly tells Courtney, “Now, back to why you called us here. Are we looking to add another member to the team?”

“She told me about how she’s being hunted by supervillains, and it sounds serious.”

Nora adds, “It seriously is. I was being hunted by several big supervillains back in Metropolis. I believe they were hired by Lex Luthor.”

“How so?”

“Oh, Bane said it himself, though I don’t think he meant to tell me.” She remembers how odd it was, that this dreaded villain would make such a simple mistake.

Courtney asks Pat, “Do you think this might be connected to the ISA?”

“It’s possible.” He looks back at Nora and asks her, “Well, besides the fact that Lex Luthor’s a very bad guy, why else would he be going after you?”

“I have superspeed, and I can also time travel, though I’d much rather not use it. Maybe he wants me for that?” Nora tries to think of any more reasons, but she can’t. “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never met him.”

Yolanda states, “Whatever the reason, it’d be best if we keep you as far away from him and his thugs as we can.”

“We’ll have to take him down at some point. I mean, Superman’s done it a ton of times.”, Courtney says.

Pat shakes his head, though he doesn’t disagree. “I appreciate the optimism, but we’re not _that_ big. Still, we’re gonna do whatever we can to keep Nora safe, as well as ourselves.”

Nora smiles graciously at the notion.

Suddenly, an alarm in the S.T.R.I.P.E. Armor starts ringing. Pat checks a screen in the cockpit and tells his teammates, “Uh oh. Something’s happening in the Town Center. Looks like a chemical leak of some sort. Put your game faces on, Team.” The Armor closes back up before adding, “That means you too, Nora.”

Together, the team rushes out of the Tire Shop into the situation that awaits them up ahead.


	2. Battle In Blue Valley

The team watches from the rooftops as a dirty orange gas billows out of a toppled truck container in the Town Center. Chuck tells the team, “According to my readings, it looks like the tank has erupted and dangerous toxins are leaking out. Fortunately, there are also no signs of anybody out and about at this time.”

“I’ll tell the Police to stand back.”, Nora says before running off to do so in her purple-gold blur.

Taking notice of the bad crash, Courtney asks, “Is the driver still alive?”

A man in brown rags crawls out of the driver’s side window unscathed, though his ragged attire would easily fool anyone. “He doesn’t look like any normal driver, that’s for sure.”, Chuck says. Upon scanning his vitals, he informs the team of who he sees: “The driver is Dr. Jonathan Crane A.K.A. the Scarecrow.”

Nora, having returned a second ago, tells Chuck, “I’ve heard of him.” If even a sliver of what the history books said about him was true, then Crane is a force to be reckoned with.

“How do we approach him?”, asks Beth.

Pat answers her question simply: “My suit will keep me safe. Stay here until I can take the tank container out of town.”

Crane leans back against the front of the toppled truck as Pat lands in front of him. He glares at the glowing red eyes of the armored hero with barely a care in the world. “Ah, you must be the metal man S.T.R.I.P.E. Tell me: What do you fear?”

Ignoring Crane’s chilling tone, Pat walks around the truck to grab the tank with ease. As he flies away, Crane pulls out a radio and calls upon a nearby ally of his. “Perhaps you can get a word out of him…”

Pat tosses the tank into the sky over an empty field and fires upon it with his rockets, blowing it up with ease. Suddenly, a barrel collides with him, sending him tumbling to the ground. He quickly regains his balance as he looks down at the enemy emerging from the trees… BANE.

“Let us not stand on ceremony up there, for I cannot fly!”, Bane challenges in his muffled voice while pointing at Pat from the ground. Fortunately, he gets his wish as Pat flies at him and tosses him a few feet away.

Seeing the gas clear up, Courtney tells the team, “Time to step in. Nora, my dad has some gas masks back at the Shop. Can you grab them real quick?”

“On it.” Nora says as she speeds off again. She returns a few short seconds later with five gas masks in her hands. “And I’m back. Here ya go.” She starts passing them around before fastening one over her own face. As soon as that is done, the team jumps down into the Town Center and rushes the Scarecrow.

Crane scowls at the brightly-colored heroes. “You children have come a long way from San Francisco.”

Rick tells him harshly, “You’re thinking of the wrong super-team.”

Nora’s confused. “Which team is he thinking of?”

“It does not matter to me!” Scarecrow growls. “What does matter is that we’re here to do battle per our benefactor’s request.”

The “we” reveal themselves in the form of Bane and Atomic Skull: very strong supervillains with the muscles to show for it. Crane points at the team of heroes and tells his allies, “Kill them if you’d like.”

While Bane seems more than ready to fight the team, Atomic Skull has some apprehension to the idea. “Uh, Scarecrow, I’m gonna level with you. These are kids, or I think most of them are. I don’t feel comfortable hitting any of them…”

Crane rolls his eyes and asks him, “Would you rather deal with me, or do you wish for me to deal with them myself?” Atomic Skull shakes his head and takes a deep sigh before putting up his fists to fight the heroes. “That’s the right answer.”

The Atomic Skull opens his mouth and roars green fire into the night sky before running at the heroes. Rick lunges at him, tackling the villain to the ground. He lands some punches on Skull’s ribs, unfortunately having to avoid hitting his flaming face.

“Get offa me, twerp!”, Skull shouts as he kicks Rick away.

Watching from behind a nearby tree, Beth decides to initiate her plan in tandem with Chuck. “Let’s give this guy a boost.”, she says while interfacing with Blue Valley’s electrical system. “Now!”

From two nearby lamp poles, electricity strikes Atomic Skull, stunning him enough for Rick to punch him in the chest and send him flying. He shakes his fist, shocked a bit by the electricity.

At the same time, Courtney and Yolanda fight Bane, striking him with their respective Cosmic Staff and claws. Mildly perturbed, he shouts, “Stop that!”, as he brushes off their attacks.

Yolanda leaps onto Bane’s back and begins slashing at his Venom tubes, nearly tearing them open. He shouts in agony, “OW! Bad kitty!”, before tossing her aside with ease.

Nora catches Yolanda with her superspeed, and they watch as Courtney and Pat send Bane flying away into some trees with a twin attack of the Staff’s beams and S.T.R.I.P.E.'s powerful fist.

With the villains defeated, Nora speeds over to Crane and grabs him by his collar. She raises a fist and asks him, “Next question: What does Lex Luthor want? Why’d he hire you?”

“I will tell you that he wants to know what you can do. He also wants you alive… Of course, however, accidents happen.”

“Whoops!” Bane grabs Nora by the torso and tosses her away from Crane. As she quickly recovers, Bane playfully asks her, “Are you ready to face _me_ , Girl Flash?”

Nora pushes herself back with her superspeed and asks in disbelief, “Did you just call me ‘Girl Flash’?”

“I did!” Bane proudly tells her. The pride quickly leaves him however as he stutters and asks, “Uh, am I wrong?”

Nora smirks at him. “The name’s XS!” She runs around him and swoops him up in a whirlwind with her superspeed. As Bane is lifted off his feet, she spins around in place to charge up a powerful kick, which she easily executes with an upward kick to his chin. “Don’t wear it out.”, she says as he falls on his back again.

“Our turn.”, says a new voice, belonging to one Cindy Burman as she shoots two metal spikes at Nora. She’s able to dodge the attacks, as well as a few more as another villain - the pale Gentleman Ghost - rises from the ground and shoots dark magic from his cane. “Interesting moves. Father told me tales of your predecessor. I’m sure you’ll share his fate.”

Courtney jumps to Nora’s side and blasts Cindy away with the Cosmic Staff, much to the Ghost’s indifference. She tells Nora, “We’ll deal with Cindy. You do something about the ghost-guy.”, before running to face her nemesis.

“You may have superspeed, but have you the capability to face me in swordplay?” He unsheathes his sword and steadies himself. “I thought not. En garde!”

The Gentleman Ghost strikes at Nora with lightning-fast attacks; fortunately, Nora’s a lot faster than that. She dodges his moves with ease, almost feeling a yawn coming on. As she slows down to do so, she also manages to throw a vibrating punch at this face with just the right frequency for him to feel it in spite of his ghastly being. He falls into the ground before rising again, knocked out for the count.

As Courtney knocks Cindy around with her Cosmic Staff, Nora looks around at the lingering Fear Gas in the area. She knows something must be done about, and so she runs - in a circle - and she doesn’t stop. A thin vortex is formed, strong enough to dispel the Fear Gas into the skies above, away from Blue Valley and without lifting up any of the current combatants, good and evil alike.

Seeing the cleanliness in the air, Scarecrow grumbles to himself, disappointed in his allies. Fortunately, a superspeed punch is sent in from Nora to knock him out cold.

“We did it!”, cheers Beth as she reunites with her fellow JSA members.

The villains gather together, hoping to size each other up for a Round 2 with XS and the Justice Society, though their wounded states say otherwise. “Now, for the Legion of Doom over here…”

Slowly, the villains begin fading into their surroundings, as if they were mirages. Bane waves the heroes goodbye with a courteous “Goodbye!”

The heroes step back slowly, confused as to what the baddies just did. Beth scans the area with her goggles and tells the team of her discovery: “I’m not picking up any heat signatures. They’re gone.”

“Hm. I guess that means we did it. Great work, team!”, Courtney says with a smile and two thumbs up.

* * *

While the JSA celebrate victory together in the kitchen of the Whitmore-Dugan Household, Nora tiredly sits on the living room couch and watches some late night cartoons. More specifically, she’s watching the latest episode of “Ambush Bug”.

_This week, witness his efforts to weather the harsh conditions of Mars, as he’s hunted down by the White Martians!_

Seeing Nora struggle to keep her eyes open or even sit upright, Courtney asks her, “You okay there, XS?”

_“Gotta stay alive, gotta find shelter… gotta get a notepad!”, Ambush Bug says to himself as he scurries across the red dunes of this alien planet, kicking up a storm behind him._

Nora yawns and tells her, “I’m fine, just sleepy.” She tries to focus on the TV, though it isn’t easy. “You don’t mind if I crash here for the night?”

_“Ah, don’t mind if I do!” He walks into the cave, illuminating it with his glowing yellow antennae, and finds an unoccupied bed of stones in the darkness._

“No worries. I mean, you’re not our first guest.” Courtney walks away really quickly and returns with a soft blanket in her hands. She hands it to Nora, who graciously covers herself with it. “Good night.”, Courtney says as she walks back to her teammates.

_“I guess I’m done talking to myself. Until next time… and after a word from our sponsors.”_

Nora turns off the television and closes her eyes. That night, she dreams…


	3. The Stillness of Remembering What You Had

_Like a lightning storm on legs, Nora dashes across the globe in seconds in her thunderbolt haze. The world is a blur, beautiful but unclear. Not that there’s anything wrong with that._

_There is something wrong with that odd feeling itching at her being. The feeling that she is being watched, even when she isn’t. She slows down, letting the whole world sit still, as she looks around worriedly._

_People stand around, minding their business while frozen in place, so it’s clearly not them._

_Maybe it’s that mysterious man in the purple suit, scribbling away in his notepad, standing around with that look on his face like he’d preferred not to be seen._

_With his pen in hand, his writing grows frantic. Nora reaches out a hand, hoping to talk to him._

_But she can’t. He’s gone._

_Confused, Nora looks around. Not that the answer would show themselves that easily…_

_From above, a booming voice speaks:_

**_Know your target, Nora West-Allen. The false Fate is the mastermind behind your troubles, and your reason for re-being. Defeat him and reclaim the Book._ **

_Looking up at the stars watching her, Nora asks the voice, “Who are you?”_

* * *

The Sun shines down on Blue Valley, bringing on the new day.

As thanks for letting her sleep on their couch (and for the delicious breakfast Barbara cooked up), Nora opted to walk the family dog, Max, while the family was busy with school and work for the day.

 _Shouldn’t be too hard of a task_ , Nora tells herself. After all, she has superspeed.

Boy, did she underestimate the dog.

After being let out the front door, Max nearly drags Nora away before she acclimates to his pace. She laughs and asks him, “Ease up there, boy… Please.”

He listens, it seems, and slows down for her. Nora pats Max on the head and tells him, “Good boy.”

The journey to town isn’t quick as Nora isn’t in a rush, and she wants to see the simple sights throughout. The quiet houses straight out of old real-estate magazines, the nifty shops maintained by caring owners, the clear blue skies and bright green trees shining in daylight, it’s all so lovely to see. _It’s no wonder Uncle Wally decided to move here back when he did._ She could get used to this.

Suddenly, across the street, trouble erupts; a thief bursts out of a pawn shop with a bag of gold bars in his grasp.

 _He’s jaywalking now, coming right my way. Hero time._ As the thief runs in Nora and Max’s direction, she quickly sticks out her leg to trip him up, sending him falling flat on his face.

As she laughs, the thief looks up at Nora and scowls at her. “You think that’s funny?” In a fit of rage, he pulls out a gun and aims it at her. He’d pull the trigger, but he quickly finds out that he’s holding thin air and aiming at nothing.

He looks around for his gun, but it isn’t anywhere in sight. “Screw this!”, he shouts as he gets up and makes another run for it. However, he bumps into someone who wasn’t there before: a cop.

“You need a hand with that?” the cop asks, pointing at the bag of gold bars.

The criminal sighs, realizing that the jig is up. He drops the bag and merely lets the officer arrest him. Exasperated, he asks aloud, "Can't a guy catch a break?"

From behind a car across the street, Nora watches the scene with Max grinning by her side. With a proud smile on her face as well, she turns the corner and continues walking the dog down the street… which looks odd. Otherworldly. Out of this town, that’s for sure.

The old-timey buildings are painted in bright pastel colors, and the gleeful townsfolk dress in uniquely off-beat outfits. And in the distance, a castle glimmers amongst the shimmering daytime sky.

It’s pretty, like Blue Valley, but in a whole new fashion. “Max, I have a feeling we’re not in Blue Valley anymore.” No question about that, Nora.

“This may all seem very confusing, but trust me; it’s not.”, says the muscly man in leopard print shorts standing next to her.

 _Where’d he come from?_ “Oh, hello!”, Nora says with a friendly wave, masking her shock. “What’s all this for? An amusement park?”

The man chuckles and tells Nora, “You could say that. This is Danny the World, an old friend of mine.”

Now Nora has to chuckle too, though the man doesn’t seem to mind. And if Max’s friendly demeanor is anything to go by, Nora has nothing to worry about. “You’re friends with an amusement park? Like the owner?”

“Like the amusement park. Danny’s a sentient street - or, well, they were. Fortunately, they’ve been building themself back up brick by brick. And I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty proud of them.”

Nora nods her head, just going along with it all. _Sure beats questioning every other word of that sentence_. “How are they sentient?”

Danny answers her question with the use of some overhanging lights: “ _A very good question, Nora!_ ”

“How do you know my name?”

On a sign inside a shop, Danny explains: “ _Flex found it in the phonebook. A good thing too: you’re_ **_very_ ** _needed!_ ”

“I’m Flex, by the way. Flex Mentallo: Muscle Man of Mystery.”

“That’s pretty schway.” _Feels like forever since I’ve said that._ Embarrassed, Nora says, “Sorry.”

“Oh, you have nothing to apologize for.”, Flex says as he shakes his head reassuringly. “It’s all good. Here with Danny, you’re free to be yourself.”

 _That sounds swell_ , Nora tells herself. “Now, about me being needed…”

“Right. According to Danny, you’re trying to stop some supervillains. Mean old Lex Luthor’s got you going?”

“Yeah. How’d Danny know?”

An ankh appears on a neon sign, appearing as Danny’s answer. It feels familiar to Nora, way more than one’s usual association with the symbol _._ “Okay. I get it… That reminds me, I’ve got some other people helping me. They’re a little busy right now, but I think they can come along too, yeah? Plus, this is one of their dogs. Can I call someone from here?”

“Sure. Phone’s over there. I’ll go get the phonebook.” Flex points to a bright red telephone booth, to which Nora speeds over to, with Max in her arms.

Seeing her superpower, Flex is impressed, and so is Danny.

After waiting a few minutes for the book, Nora dials the phone number of one Pat Dugan. He answers, “This is the Pit Stop, how can we help you?”

“Hey, Pat. It’s me, Nora. So, this is gonna sound crazy, but hear me out-”

“Are you alright? How’s Max?”

“Yeah, Max is doing good. I’m doing good too. We actually stopped a crime earlier, back when we were in Blue Valley.”

“So I’ve heard. Y’know, word travels quick here about superheroing. ‘A criminal got taken out by a girl too fast to see’. Great work!”

“Thanks! So anyways, I’m gonna have to tell you that we’re not in Blue Valley anymore. A friendly street named Danny picked us up and they’ve transported us to… actually, I’m not sure where. But they seem friendly enough, and I think they can help us take down Luthor and his team.”

Pat pauses, trying to wrap his head around those few sentences. “Uh… Come again?”

“Yeah, I figured it’d be confusing, but this is good. I promise. Again, I don’t know where we are now, but I’ll let you know when we stop somewhere good. Okay?”

“Yeah. So long as no one’s in danger, then all’s good.”

“Great. Talk to you later.” Nora hangs up the phone and walks out of the booth with Max. They stop at a bench and she takes a seat, enjoying the atmosphere that Danny brings. Some would say that it feels different than usual. Nora would disagree; she’s always felt this peaceful. _Here’s hoping things stay that way._


	4. Nora Patrol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the mild language comes in.

Cliff Steele opens his eyes to a good fucking morning, as he rises from his bed to see the sunlight. All its rays, its ultraviolet breadth, its point of origin…  _ Dammit, Chief. _

It’s hard for him to be normal, and he knows the same can be said of his housemates.  _ Sure beats being fucking wax. _

_Routine!_ Cliff goes to ~~brush his teeth~~ _no._ ~~take a shower~~ _uh uh._ ~~make breakfast~~ _not happening._ ~~eat break~~ \- _fuck it_ , he’s gonna go conversate with Larry. After all, he usually makes his damn good breakfasts around this time.

And down in the kitchen, he is. Cliff hears the sizzling of fried eggs on a burning hot stove as Larry Trainor, the craftsman of cooking, flips pancakes over the stove with bacon on the side. Hearing the thunderous footfalls of his friend’s robotic form, Larry cheerfully says, “Good morning, Cliff. How are you today?”

“I’m looking to indulge in some conversation, Larry.”, Cliff answers oddly as he takes a seat at the kitchen table.

Slowly, Larry turns to his friend and asks him, “Why are you talking like that?”

Cliff answers with a pointed finger of declaration, “To tell you the truth, it’s because I feel so good.”

After Dorothy Spinner beat the Candlemaker into the vastness of oblivion, the race to his daughter Clara’s wedding was on. This would usually be the part where he gets there too late, and she hates him for it, and he is forced to once again accept the angsty onus of being a Robotman… but that didn’t happen. Instead, he arrived right on schedule with his new family by his side, and they watched happily as Clara married a lovely young lady whom she was deeply in love with.

Cliff could swear (more than usual, anyways) that he shed a tear of joy that day. It was good. “Like, really good. I’m just gonna say it, I feel like fucking sunshine.”

Nodding his head, Larry tells Cliff with his cool cadence, “That’s wonderful to hear.” In steps Rita Farr from the living room, happy as everyone else surely is on this calm day. “Hey, Rita. Breakfast’s ready.”

“Thank you, Larry! And, oh, good morning, Cliff!”

With a wave, Cliff asks her, “Hello. How are you holding up?”

“It’s a brand new day, I’m thinking! I’m going to train with Victor today, and then we’re going to try and brainstorm some ideas for an improved alias.”

“You’re not sticking with ‘Beekeeper’?”, Cliff mournfully asks.

Rita chuckles, “No. As much as she’ll be missed, I’m looking to take this superhero job more seriously.”

Larry tells her, happy for his friends’ commitment to doing good, “Well, I’m sure you’ll do great.”

_ DING DONG, _ goes the front door. Rita gets up from her seat and says, “I’ll get it.”

Cliff shakes his head and tells her, “No, don’t worry, I got it.”, as he gets up and walks over instead.

Opening the door, he sees a young woman with a smiling dog next to her. “Who are you?”, Cliff asks.

“Nora West-Allen. I’m a friend of Danny’s, and I need your help.”

Opening the door a bit more, Cliff continues, “Oh… with what?”

“I’m being hunted by supervillains, and I need to stop them.”

Cliff sighs, having just gotten acclimated to not dealing with scummy evildoers. But he has no right to leave someone in need without any help at all. “Then, I guess you’d better come in. Rita and Vic, they should be able to help you more directly.”

A hand stretches over to the front door, taking the shape of a mouth with its fingers. Nora leaps back, surprised, though Max doesn’t seem phased.

“Did someone mention my name?”, asks Rita with her hand.

Nora lets out a nervous chuckle and answers, “Yes, I did.”

“Then take my hand.”

As Nora holds Rita’s hand and follows it into the kitchen, Cliff turns his attention to Max as he kneels down to gently pet him. “Hey, big fella. How are you? Are you being a good boy? Aw…”

“Getting softer these days, I see”, jokes Victor Stone as he walks over with Crazy Jane from upstairs.

Turning to look at them, Cliff remarks, “Ah! Hey, Vic. Hey, Jane. How’re you doing?”

Victor answers as he pulls up several holograms on his forearm, “I’ve been busy running some diagnostics on myself. No lingering Candlemaker in me, or any of us for that matter.”

“And as for me, well, I’m feeling together for once. Feeling together feels nice…”, Jane answers with a shrug of her shoulders.

Offering his two friends two thumbs up, Cliff declares, “That’s great to hear! Larry’s making breakfast also, and it seems we’ve got a new guest in the house. She just walked in, says her name’s Nora and that she fights supervillains.”

“Then, this looks like a job for Cyborg and… whatever Rita is calling herself.”

As Victor walks ahead, Jane asks Cliff, “What did Larry make today anyways?”

“Eggs, pancakes. They look pretty good.”

Jane lets out a laugh and tells Cliff very matter-of-factly, “As always.”  _ It’s nice for her to be happy. Hell, it’s nice for all of us to be happy for once _ , Cliff muses to himself as he walks with Jane into the kitchen to join the rest of the team. Max follows suit, with the youngest of the Doom Manor residents, Dorothy Spinner, happily following the peppy dog after spotting him.

* * *

Nora tells her story - of her native world, of Metropolis, of Blue Valley, and of Danny - and the Doom Patrol listen intently too. They wonder of what they were like in this other world Nora came from, of what other choices they had made, of where (or when) they were now.

As Nora talks, the team talk too of their plights and pains in life, but more so of their rejection of gloom in favor of recovery and their acceptance of circumstance and change. It touches her heart, really.

They also swear a lot, though they try to avoid it with Dorothy around.

But unbeknownst to the group, they are being watched. By a ghost - not one of the sexual kind, but rather of the supervillainous. With his monocle, the Gentleman Ghost keeps an eye on the heroes in his sight. Quietly, he reports to his boss through radio communications: “The speedster has arrived, Mr. Luthor, and so have I.”

Mr. Luthor, none other than Lex, smiles unseen on his end. “Right on schedule. Stay out of sight and do not strike until night falls.” He then remembers the Gentleman Ghost’s close ally: “What is the Doctor’s status?”

“She’s closer, specifically watching the speedster. Seems she’s taken quite a liking to her, and I’m certain I can wager a reason why…”

Behind her ultraviolet curtain of camouflage, the villainous Doctor Light of Earth-2 watches Nora as closely as Craddock said, smiling upon her adversary.


End file.
